Full Description
This title is the winner of the 2001 Jerry Malloy Prize. 'An important, groundbreaking work of research. Highly readable, yet thoroughly documented. No one else has put together this much information on baseball in Asia in one volume. It will be the sourcebook on the subject for years to come. Hats off to author Reaves for a much needed, unique contribution to the literature of the game' - Robert Whiting, author of "You Gotta Have Wa". Baseball has long been considered the great American game, but times have changed. The game now reverberates across the globe. Particularly noteworthy is how baseball has taken hold in Asia. While maintaining the essence of the game, a wide range of Asian cultures have embraced baseball and transformed it to make it their own. In "Taking in a Game", Joseph A. Reaves examines the development of the sport in Korea, the Philippines, mainland China, and Taiwan, as well as the more widely known story of baseball in Japan. In this entertaining and informed account, Reaves covers everything from baseball in Qing Dynasty China in the nineteenth century to the 2000 Sydney Olympics bronze-medal match between Japan and Korea.Reaves guides the reader through a history of Asian baseball, the cultures that surround it, and the future of what has become a great Asian game. Joseph A. Reaves is a former journalist who covered Asia for "The Chicago Tribune", "Reader's Digest", and "UPI". He is the author of "Warsaw to Wrigley: A Foreign Correspondent's Tale of Coming Home from Communism to the Cubs".
Contents
Illustrations Acknowledgments A Time Line for Baseball in Asia and the Pacific "Introduction: Let's Play, Too" Chapter 1: Confucian in the Bullpen: Bunt Well and Bow Deeply Chapter 2: Silk Gowns and Gold Gloves: Nineteenth-Century China Chapter 3: Curve Balls and Hand Grenades: Twentieth-Century China Chapter 4: Baseball Gods and the Prince of Peace: Japan's National Game Chapter 5: Always Be Gentlemen: Japan Turns Pro Chapter 6: Faded Glory: The Philippines Chapter 7: Quiet Riots: Korea "Chapter 8: Say It Ain't So, Kuo: Taiwan" Chapter 9: Yakyu Go Home: The Great Japanese Game Notes Bibliography Index
